With support from bi3, the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati partnered with TriHealth’s OB/GYN Center at Good Samaritan Hospital to create M-HeLP (Maternal Health Law Partnership). The goal of the program is to reduce social needs and improve birth outcomes.
The project works to identify women with a health-harming legal need – such as unsafe housing, food insecurity, and domestic violence or custody issues – and provide timely, effective legal assistance that is coordinated with case management and home visitation. Early results show that women in this program are less likely to have an extreme pre-term birth, which is the leading cause of infant mortality in Hamilton County.
bi3’s Jill Miller and TriHealth’s Dr. David Dhanraj sat down for an interview with Local 12’s Liz Bonis to explain how this unique partnership is transforming health in Cincinnati.